Italy

Monti government arouses huge anger of workers

www.socialistworld.net, 14/12/2011 website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI

General strike sets the pace

Giuliano Brunetti, ControCorrente‭ (‬CWI supporters Italy‭)

On Monday 12 December we saw a joint general strike mobilisation in
Italy with the three major trade union confederations - CGIL, CISL and
UIL calling a three-hour general strike. This was in response to the
massive €30billion worth of budget cuts announced last week. The fact
that the right-wing CISL and UIL felt compelled to call strike action
with the more left wing CGIL after many years of a consensus approach,
reflects the angry mood and pressure from below.

FIOM, the metal workers’ union of the CGIL, made it an 8 hour strike
because of the particular attacks of the bosses against them. The car
giant FIAT is leaving Confindustria, the bosses’ union, and has replaced
the national metalworkers’ contract with a separate FIAT contract that
considerably worsens working conditions and bans strike action against
these changes. (Scandalously CISL and UIL have signed this contract, two
days after the strike! Understandably many workers are sceptical about
this newfound trade union ‘unity’.)

Bruno Manganaro, secretary of FIOM-CGIL Genoa, explained in a TV
interview on the mass demonstration in his city: “Trade union unity is
something serious, something that we all value. The unions may have
different opinions but in the end it is the workers who decide. If
someone prevents workers voting on their future, which is what is
happening in Fiat, wiping out the national labour contract, as some are
thinking of doing at Fincantieri, making a separate agreement, then this
is a joke and workers are not willing to accept it”. To see a
video on the La Republica newspaper website of the speach (in Italian) click
here

On the day of the strike, noisy demonstrations of tens of thousands of
workers took place throughout Italy. The unions’ national leaders spoke
at a mass demonstration outside the parliament building in Rome. While
workers shouted angrily that they could not live on their present
incomes, let alone after cuts, Susanna Camusso, CGIL leader, spoke of
the need to ‘amend’ the package simply with some more taxation of the
rich. (Mario Monti has felt constrained to move at least a little in
this direction as a result of the strike action being taken.)

In Naples a worker commented to reporters: “The austerity measures are
scandalous. Politicians cannot ask for sacrifices while keeping all
their privileges”. “Closed up in their palaces” they are “losing touch
with reality”.

The main slogan that was taken up in all the squares, that could be read
on leaflets, posters and banners being carried by the delegations on the
opening parades was: "Let those pay who have never paid!". This referred
to the imposition of massive austerity measures by the Monti government
to ’save’ money when some of the richest businessmen and bankers have
shifted their money abroad and pay no taxes. The central demand of the
day was to stop the government slashing the hard-won gains of the
Italian working class.

The budget ’manoeuvre’

The emergency austerity budget was designed to avoid the risk of
default, to give a strong signal to the European technocracy and to
reassure international markets. It is being carried through with the
bipartisan support of the Democratic Party, previously in opposition,
and the People of Freedom Party of Silvio Berlusconi. The package
includes, among other things, a VAT increase of 2% from 1 September 2012
and the reintroduction of the IMU (a 0.4 % tax on homes), that was not
implemented by either the Prodi or the Berlusconi governments.

But it is on the issue of pensions and retirement age that the
government shows its real intention to make ordinary people pay for the
crisis. From 1 January 2012 a contributory system on pensions will be
introduced for all. It will mean that pensions will be equivalent to a
percentage of contributions paid during the whole working life.
Moreover, the entitlement to pensions will be extended to 62 years of
age for women and 66 for men. It will be necessary to show 42 years of
contributions to qualify with the pensions board. The introduction of
this new system will force many workers to prolong their working life
for two, three or even four or five years in some cases. With regard to
cost of living indexing, there will be no adjustment for pensions above
€960 per month from next year, and an adjustment of only 50% of the rate
of inflation for pensions between €480 and €960.

The budget has been presented to us as a budget done with ‘equity’.
Nothing could be further from the truth. This ’manoeuvre’ (special
budget) contains very hard attacks against the living standards of
working class people in the country. The measures are deeply unfair and
will exacerbate the crisis pushing important sectors of the working and
middle class into poverty. In response to this manoeuvre, there is
particular anger that working class people are paying a high price while
Monti, under pressure from Berlusconi’s party, said he has abandoned the
idea of a wealth tax.

The fight back

Although there are still no official data from the trade unions about
the participation in this Monday’s strike, we can say that it was a real
success. There were peaks of participation that exceeded 75% - for
example in Tuscany. Among the biggest and most combative contingents on
the demonstrations were those of the metal-mechanics. A banner saying
"For the freedom of work" with the Fiat logo on it was at the head of
the procession of FIOM in the centre of Turin. Behind marched thousands
of metalworkers. There was a very high participation in the strike in
all factories according to FIOM’s figures - 69% at Mirafiori, more than
50% at Iveco , 70% at Rivalta Hail, Borgaretto 90%, Micro-engineering
95%, including 70% and 90% at the smaller places like Canavese at
Moncton.

The FIOM leaflet distributed on a national scale carried four main
demands: The cancellation of Article 8 of the budget that cancels
collective agreement through waivers, including Article 18 of the
Statute of workers on discriminatory dismissals. The defence of workers
and jobs and the development of a new industrial policy of quality, with
public intervention. The rejection of the decision to abolish the Fiat
National Agreement and extend the practice of separate agreements to all
80,000 workers of the Pomigliano Group, putting into question the
freedom of trade unions in this country. The defence of the provisions
of the constitution in relation to trade union freedoms and democracy,
the right to strike, the right to work and the right to national labour
contract bargaining. These demands expressed very clearly the feeling of
many workers who went on strike.

Desire for change

The organisation of Monday’s strike demonstrates the great desire for
change that exists today at the base of society but also the great anger
and frustration at the idea of having to always be the ones to pay the
price for crises. More strike action is planned for the next few days -
public transport strike on December 15 and 16, bank employees will stop
work for the afternoon of 16 December and public administration will
close down for a whole day on 19 December. But the fact that workers are
being brought out on different days and sometimes for just a few hours,
means many are questioning the seriousness of the union leaderships.
Huge pressure from the rank and file will be necessary to ensure that a
determined struggle is waged.

It is certain that the attempt by the government of the bankers and
speculators to make us pay for the result of the neo-liberal policies of
the last decades will not be allowed to pass without strong opposition
at the base of society in Italy. This must and will include the forging
by workers and young people of a new political force to take the
struggle forward.